Snooker - Gould beats Allen in shoot-out final

Martin Gould won £32,000 with victory over Mark Allen in the final of the Betfair Shoot Out In Blackpool.

London's 31-year-old Gould cruised to a 104-0 win over Antrim's Allen in the final of the one-frame knockout event at the Circus Arena to score the biggest pay day of his career.

Allen missed a tough red early in the final and world number 19 Gould compiled a break of 46. Allen had one more half chance but missed a long red and his opponent knocked in another 58 to win in style.

It was Gould's second triumph in a tournament with a shot clock as he also won the Power Snooker Masters in 2011. His natural fluency at the table and steady temperament make him well suited to events where time is of the essence.

Gould also thrived under the scrutiny of an often raucous crowd. The sound of Spandau's Ballet's 'Gold' - which will surely become his theme tune - rang out around the packed arena as he lifted the trophy.

"Peter Lines uses that one for his walk-on music so I'll have to try and nick it off him!" joked Gould, who also won a Players Tour Championship event earlier this season. "I couldn't have asked for a better crowd, they were on my side and I kept on winning.

"It feels fantastic. It's been a great weekend, I'm £32,000 richer and I've got a nice trophy. Winning any TV event is great, I'll have to ask Barry Hearn to use a shot clock in all tournaments, then I might have a chance of winning a ranking event! I'm one of the quicker players, I'm quick thinking and I like to get on with it. I've got a pool background where we had a shot clock so I'm used to it."

Gould, who beat Rory McLeod, Mark Joyce, Nigel Bond, Andrew Higginson and Michael Holt to reach the final, added: "I probably felt more calm in the final than any other match. The money is nice when it goes into the bank but that didn't bother me. I just had the same philosophy all the way through: if you win you win, if you lose you lose. It would be nice to get a major under my belt this season, I'll keep practising hard and doing the right things."

The tournament, now in its third year, featured 64 of the world's top players, with matches lasting a maximum of 10 minutes and a shot clock of 15 seconds for the first five minutes and 10 seconds for the last five.